When acquiring acoustic data with an ultrasound imaging apparatus, the operator is required to initiate a large variety of functions from a control panel. If such functions are enabled from a control surface removed from the display, the operator will have to frequently look away from the display CRT in order to push a button or press a key, possibly missing visual data or inadvertently causing the operator to move the transducer and change the imaging plane, thus slowing down the examination process.
It would be desirable to provide some way of allowing an operator to operate the control panel while minimizing the need to break eye contact with the display.